Vatican Museums

The history of the Vincenzo Pagani’s altarpiece Madonna della Cintola is the subject of this volume gathering studies, results and considerations, related to the synergy among the Department of Byzantine-Medieval Art, the Painting and Wood Materials Restoration Laboratory and the Diagnostic Laboratory for Conservation and Restoration of the Vatican Museums. The content span from the casual finding in the storage area of the Basilica of Saint John Lateran, to the complex restoration, financed by the Patrons of the Arts in the Vatican Museums, lasted 6 years and terminated in 2016.

The first part of the book – supplied with splendid colour images – retraces the historical and artistic events of the panel, above all the difficult investigation about the attribution and provenience of the painting, that was in fact in very bad conditions. An iconographic and stylistic analysis follows, through accurate comparisons with similar works, conserved in Italy and abroad. In the second part the techniques used by Pagani are examined, together with the original materials and those used in the old maintenance works, as well as the methods used for the recent restoration. Particularly interesting is the study about the wooden support and the related conservation works.
The results are then presented concerning the diagnostic studies on the structure of the altarpiece, its state of conservation, the executive techniques, as well as an in-depth analysis of the Bio-Restoration.